Fiddleman

That is such a good idea to make a photo journey in the same positions. Too bad we all were not that well organized. You look fabulous and have really done well. Great job!

No, you should sliming, hiccuping, burping and gassing all at the same time. Lol.

I was going to say the same thing. In the beginning there are the burps, the hiccups, the runny nose if you get close to full. And then the pain if you eat past that. After a while, you finally get a 6th sense to just know before the triggers even kick in. However, you do need to listen and take notes in order to develop and be aware of the sense.

Even your under wear will start to feel lose after a while. If this happens, you know you have a good thing going. Little small things like this are little reminders when the scale is dead and has no pulse. At this time, you could do the humane thing by shooting it and putting it out of it's misery.

I have found only one person who has admitted to loving burpees. There must be a reason for that. And what planet are they from anyways. Maybe one where there is way less gravitational pull. Lol.

Getting on the treadmill at 5 weeks is pretty decent. I know everyone has their own fitness levels and their own recovery process. I remember not exercising too much at 5 weeks; still walked a bunch with my dog.

You bet! VSG has been a game changer for me emotionally, physically and psychologically. I am a different person now, literally. I would never go back to the person I was for most of my adult life: Fat, depressed and angry at the world. Food had me in a choke hold for so long. Now I am free to be who I want to be.

I like to eat good carbs (energy squares from nuts.com) before running and drink tons of water all morning. I follow up with a recovery protein shake mixed with water. This is when I run at 9 am. I also run about a mile when I pop out of bed at 5:30 am to get my circulation going, especially in my legs because I sit most of the day for my day job. For that run, usually I run empty. I do not bother with any food or water. It is not intense run as I try and get it done in about 9 minutes, maybe .5-1% incline. The hard stuff comes during my 9 am workout. The easiest way to fuel around a workout is good carbs before and protein immediately after. Hope this helps!

Isn't that the stuff you wax onto your skin after a bad sunburn. I know it smells nasty. Have never tasted it. If it works for you, all the power to you!! As for hunger, it does leave for a bit when you transition to solids. However, for most it is back by month 4, 5 or 6. Must be that a person is healed more by that time or the body decides to start up the g-juice again. I have never found a good reason for it. What I do know is that you need to use your first few months to build good eating habits and will power so that when hunger returns, you are ready with your defenses. I think this is key. If you are unable to change your life style while your body is down, you may find it really hard to keep your weight down when initial loss is over.

Are you stating husbands are like Ferrets?

Sorry to hear about the Gall Bladder. Good luck!

Yup. Chia seeds will work great for a daily BM. Very natural too as not a lot of effort. However, you ( or rather, a person) should probably use a forceful method if you are blocked as Chia seeds might not help you in that case. I use Chia seeds and Miralax together in the morning for a few months now. So far great results!!

They are also good for endurance or high intensity activity ( e.g running) as they hold a lot of water in you GI tract that is available on demand. I believe they make a difference in ramping up athletic ability, but have no proof or scientific studies to back this statement.

This is a really great thread to read. Thanks for all the information!

These are magic pills (for me). They may not work the same way for everyone. I took these before my 5 k run today and ran 6:50 min mile without fatiguing. It was ammmaaazing. Legs felt perfectly mobile in joints and muscles. After about 20 min 5 k, I hopped on my ellyptical for another 25 minutes at level 7 on hill program. I usually can never do level 7. This stuff made my cardio exercise feel like nothing ( was still sweating a river though). I cannot wait to use catalyst before cross fit tomorrow and see how it helps with burpees and Olympic lifts ( 2 of my cross fit weaknesses) as well as pull ups. I have high hopes. Kind of expensive stuff, but can replace my previous pre-workout drinks (c4).

I don't know if we need to remove evidence of surgery. Maybe it is because I am a guy, but I look at scars as war wounds that each tell a story. Wear them with pride! I have various scars from different repairs in life. I like telling people about where they come from. I am like an old quality piece of furniture with lots of nicks and scratches. Apologies in advance if this metaphor is really bad. Lol.

OK gym / cross fit guys, my cross fit coach recommended taking catalyst 15 minutes before exercise or training to lean out more as well as increase reps, speed and weights. Have you used this? Does it work for you? I bought a bottle and will try it out today. Looks like it is basically amino acids you can only get from supplements. Reviews on Amazon seem to praise it. Let me know your thoughts.

Mole skin used to help me all the time from blisters when I am out on a long hike (e.g greater then 1 week). I am not sure if they also apply to running blisters. Maybe. Also just soaking your feet in Epson salt will probably help.

9 months - still here. Not too concerned because not very noticeable. I might use a cream at some point to fix this, but not feeling the urge to yet.

Went back and looked at the Amazon Reviews and the company web site on the Tonic Alchemy green drink. I have placed an order for this and see how it compares to Amazing Grass. There are SO many green drink options out there to research. Hopefully, this will be a great experience. No issues with Amazing Grass, but do want to try some other products to find what I interpret as the best alternative. Thanks everyone for your comments so far. This is a constant learning experience as a post op.

I usually do not follow up an hour of cross fit with an hour of yoga because of being tired and not enough time to drive from one to the other. On my cross fit days, I have been thinking about doing Yin after cross fit as a way to really deeply stretch out those muscles killed during cross fit. It is a little later in the evening so I can take my time getting there. On my running days (alternate days), I run in the morning and am thinking about attending Yoga in the evening. On these days I am thinking about Power Vanyase or Hatha. Something that is still fairly active. I like a combination of funning, cross fit and yoga because it will allow for a general development of fitness and athleticism rather then bulking up. Bulking up to be super strong is not really my goal, but I would like to have a good athletic physique, be in the BMI range of healthy and not be self conscious about how I look in the Water, on the beach, etc in the summer. Right now, I am in the BMI range of healthy, but not really in the physical shape yet that is my goal. So, going back to a plan, typical weekly schedule would roughly be: M: Run (9am - 5k timed), Hatha (6 pm) T: cross fit (4 pm), yin (7:30p) W: Run (9am - 30 min HIIT), Power Vinyase (6 pm) Th: cross fit (4 pm), Yin (7:30p) F: Run (9am - 10 k timed), Hatha (6 pm) Sat: Run (train for 1/2) / Hike Sun: recover I also like to do a mile run when I get up in the morning and some light weights. It helps me wake up and get ready for the day. Finally , I am one of the tightest, immobile and inflexible people according to my cross fit coach so we are working on special mobility exercises. Tightness in my upper body comes from my job as software developer ( long hours on computer) for decades. Tightness is my lower body (hamstrings and hip flexors) comes from recent running. I am really hoping by doing all the Yoga that I can become gumby man and also get off my inflammation meds for the back. I will also start treating myself to longer hot showers and pro messages to help the tension in the back, shoulder and neck region. I recently bought a foam roller from last week to help with tightness in legs. Not very much, but I didn't place a high enough priority on it. What do you think?

Time to order a new supply of green grass drink. I ordered original flavor last time and it was good for the most part. Does anyone have comments on the other flavors?